knit and natter

So I've been thinking lately. A lot. About all kinds of things. A couple of which are relevant here. I've been in a bit of a funk for... a while. And I don't like it. So, I'm trying to get out of it. In trying to figure out how to get out of this funk I was thinking about that saying, "If you want something to get done, ask someone who's busy." I want some things done in my life. So I'm gonna try to get busy. One of the ways I'd like to get busy is by being a better blogger. It may be a slow start but I'm gonna work on posting much more regularly and maybe adding some features and there'll probably be a bit of design revamp. (Actually that sounds way more impressive than my skills will allow for... things will get a bit of a visual spruce up, I can probably manage that.)

All of that brings me to today's post. I've participated in Ginny's Yarn Along before, although it has been a while. Not only am I going to try and participate regularly, I want to expand it a bit into my own little feature, Knit and Natter. I'll still post a picture of what I'm knitting and reading, but then I'll ramble a bit to talk more about what I'm reading and what I think about it and how it's challenging/changing/entertaining me. Just whatever comes to mind really as "natter" is a British expression which means to chatter or talk incessantly. (You have been warned!)

Incidentally, while looking up natter on dictionary.com I also decided to look up knit and this is what I found...

verb, knit·ted or knit, knit·ting, noun

–verb (used with object)

1. to make (a garment, fabric, etc.) by interlocking loops of one or more yarns either by hand with knitting needles or by machine.

2. to join closely and firmly, as members or parts (often followed by together )

3. to contract into folds or wrinkles: to knit the brow.

4. to form or create from diverse sources or elements:

–verb (used without object)

5. to become closely and firmly joined together; grow together, as broken bones do.

6. to contract into folds or wrinkles, as the brow.

7. to become closely and intimately united.

I love that! (And by that I mean 2, 4, 5, & 7.) So much that it might reappear in some way, shape, or form... I'll have to give it a think. For now, on to this week's yarn along/knit and natter:

I am currently knitting a Wispy Cardi. The yarn was given to me in a yarn swap and it is so lovely! A picture just couldn't do it justice. It's silk and full of all these beautiful tones. At first glance it seems to be be just blues and greens, but it's much more of a rainbow with soft pinks and yellows as well. This could very well be the perfect summer cardigan and I cannot wait to be finished. I've already planned an outfit to wear it with! It's the first garment I've made for myself and I'm just so excited.

I am not technically reading this week's book as I finished it around 11:00 last night. The Poisonwood Bible was fantastic. I have been both meaning to read it and avoiding reading it for a few years now. I just couldn't decide whether I wanted to or not. I'm so very glad that I did. It's the story of a Baptist preacher who goes to the Belgian Congo in 1959 as a missionary. The story of their life in Africa and how they are changed (and how Africa is changed) is told in the five very different voices of his wife and daughters.

Orleanna is looking back after many, many years and her chapters have an almost dream like quality. By contrast the daughters' narratives are mostly contemporaneous. Rachel is the self-described dumb blonde and often mixes up the big words and common phrases that she uses. My favourite being, "It's a woman's provocative to change her mind." Leah is earnest and honest, seeking for truth and righteousness. She was probably my favourite of the girls. Adah is an observer and sees the dark side of things. She was so creatively expressed. I loved the redemptive turn her life takes. (Hope that isn't too much of a spoiler.) Ruth May is only five and her childish way of seeing everything, misunderstanding things, simplifying things is absolutely endearing.

The book provided plenty of food for thought regarding how the West has viewed and interfered with the "third world" and about "cross cultural mission." It also introduced Africa to me in a new way. I have heard plenty of stories about Africa. I've seen pictures and tv programs and African animals in the zoo. I have a sister who loves Africa. But I have never felt drawn to Africa. I've never had a desire to go there (except, for some reason I do not know, Ethiopia, and that only on vacation). There was a song on Christian radio when I was little, "Lord, please don't send me to Africa. I don't think I've got what it takes..." and that somehow got into my thinking about that big, beautiful continent and stuck there. I'm not saying that all of a sudden I want to rush south. Just that my perspective has been challenged and changed, even if ever so slightly, as a result of this book. And that is always a good thing.